Antimicrobial textiles and methods for production of the same

ABSTRACT

A method for making an antibacterial fabric having resistance to laundering while maintaining its antibacterial properties.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This patent application claims the benefit of the priority under 35 USC119 and 35 USC 120 of provisional U.S. patent application Ser. No.61/792,261 filed 15 Mar. 2013 and entitled “Antimicrobial Textiles andMethods for Production of the Same” and the priority of provisional U.S.patent application Ser. No. 61/789,849 filed 15 Mar. 2013 and entitled“Textiles Having Antimicrobial Properties and Methods for Producing theSame”.

This patent application is a 35 USC 120 continuation application of U.S.utility application Ser. No. 14/935,600 entitled “Antimicrobial Textilesand Methods for Production of the Same”, filed 9 Nov. 2015, which is acontinuation application of U.S. utility application Ser. No. 14/215,197filed 17 Mar. 2014, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. utilitypatent application Ser. No. 12/705,843 entitled “Methods and Apparatusfor Combating Sick Building Syndrome”, filed 15 Feb. 2010, and a 35 USC120 continuation-in-part of U.S. utility patent application Ser. No.13/052,592, entitled “Methods for Imparting Anti-Microbial,Microbiocidal Properties to Fabrics, Yarns and Filaments, and Fabrics,Yarns and Filaments Embodying Such Properties”, filed 21 Mar. 2011, anda 35 USC 120 continuation-in-part of U.S. utility patent applicationSer. No. 13/112,252, entitled “Methods and Apparatus for PassiveReduction of Nosocomial Infections in Clinical Settings, and Fabrics,Yarns, and Filaments for use in Connection Therewith”, filed 20 May2011.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This patent application incorporates by reference the disclosures ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/215,197 filed 17 March 2014 andpublished as US 2014/0273690 on 18 Sep. 2014, U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/705,843 filed 15 Feb. 2010 and published as US 2011/020126A1 on 18 Aug. 2011; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/052,592 filed 21Mar. 2011 and published as US 2011/0229542 A1 on 22 Sep. 2011; and U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/112,252 filed 20 May 2011 and publishedas US 2011/0236448 A1 on 29 Sep. 2011.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plot of Log CFU/ml versus incubation time in hours showingthat fabric treatments in accordance with the invention, produce aneffective binding of the biocide, namely eugenol to fabric, asresepcting effectiveness of the fabric in controlling S aureus.

FIG. 2 is a plot of Log CFU/ml versus percent of biocide treatment usedshowing the efficacy of the fabric treatment in accordance with theinvention when tested against S. aureus (MRSA).

FIG. 3 is a plot of Log CFU/ml versus percentage of bonding agent used,graphically depicting the efficacy of the fabric when tested against S.aureus (MRSA) strain after 5 washings, of fabric treated in accordancewith the invention, in cold water and drying.

FIG. 4 is a plot of Log CFU/ml versus number of fabric washes,graphically depicting S. aureus (MRSA) growth rate over 25 washings offabric treated in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 5 shows three petri dishes showing the growth of S. aureus (MRSA)after up to 25 washes of fabric treated in accordance with theinvention. The top dish shows control (no fabric treatment) growth at10⁻¹², the bottom left dish shows growth at 20 washings of fabrictreated in accordance with the invention and the bottom right dish showsgrowth at 25 washings of fabric treated in accordanc with the invention.

FIG. 6 shows four petri dishes showing S. agalacticae growth on bloodagar. The top left dish shows the control (no treatment of the fabric)growth at 10⁻¹², the top right dish is growth after 10 washings offabric treated in accordance with the invention, the bottom left dishshows growth after five washings of fabric treated in accordance withthe invention and the bottom right dish shows growth after no washingsof fabric treated in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 7 shows five petri dishes showing the growth of S. aureus (MRSA).The top left dish shows control growth, i.e. no fabric treatment. Theremaining four dishes show the results with fabric treatments 1-4,respectively.

FIG. 8 shows a petri dish showing Clostridium sporogenes growth on threefabric pieces that had been treated in accordance with the invention,one which has been washed 15 times, one which has been washed 20 timesand one which has been washed 25 times.

FIG. 9 shows two test tubes containing growth media after 24 hour ofincubation. The tube on the left is the control. The tube on the rightis the fabric which has been washed 25 times.

FIG. 10 shows four petri dishes with growth of c sporogenes. The dish onthe top left shows control growth at 10⁻¹². The dish on the top rightshows growth at 15 washings at 10⁻⁸. The dish on the bottom left showsgrowth at 20 washings at 10⁻⁸. The dish on the bottom right shows growthat 25 washings at 10⁻⁸.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

25% cotton, 75% polyester fabrics in several variations optimizeantimicrobial property activity retention. These fabrics are treatedwith aqueous solutions including glyxol (as a bonding agent for anactive natural bicidal), eugenol (as an active natural bicidal), and inmost cases polyvinyl alcohol (as a second bonding agent for the activenatural bicidal). Typical amounts of these reagents have been from 10 to100 grams of glyxol, 1-10 grams of polyvinyl alcohol and 1 to 15 gramsof eungenol, all per liter of water.

It has now been determined that of the two bonding agents initiallyused, namely polyvinyl alcohol and glyxol, the polyvinyl alcohol haslittle or no measurable effect on retention of bioactivity by thefabric. The remaining bonding component, namely glyxol, has thedesirable characteristic that it can be heated and still result in abiocidally active fabric being created.

Some of the water component of the fabric treatment solution can bereplaced with other liquids, namely either 10% ethanol or 10% ethylacetate (both measured as parts by weight of the solution), and stillretain a 4-7 log reduction in growth of S. aureus (MRSA), B. cereus(model for anthrax) and M. smegmatis (model for TB).

Three fabrics, namely fabric treated with a 10:10:100 ratio of polyvinylalcohol, glyxol and water by volume, fabric treated with the same ratioof polyvinyl alcohol, glyxol and water by volume with the glyxol beingheated, and fabric treated with a 10:100 ratio of glyxol to water andhaving no polyvinyl alcohol, were also assayed for launderability,namely whether the fabrics retained their antimicrobial properties afterbeing laundered.

All three fabrics were laundered between three (3) and six (6) timeswithout loss of antimicrobial viability.

50% cotton 50% polyester fabrics were also treated using with a10:10:100 ratio of polyvinyl alcohol, glyxol and water by volume, withsome variations of the bonding components, namely polyvinyl alcohol andglyxol, including deletion (separately) of each of these components andheating of the polyvinyl alcohol prior to addition to the treatmentmixture.

Optimization of the amount of biocide, namely eugenol, that is added tothe solution applied to the fabric revealed that one gram of eugenol perliter of solution may be used without loss of antibacterial activity.

Based on feedback from the above bactericidal evaluations, one aspect ofthis treats the 25:75% cotton:polyester fabrics, while another aspectoptimizes the treatment. The treatment to impart antimicrobialproperties can be applied to the fabric with common textile wetprocessing equipment, whereas earlier treatments (as disclosed in thepatent applications noted above that have been incorporated byreference) while effective utilized a 100:1 liquid mix to fabric ratio.(As used herein a “100:1 liquid mix to fabric ratio” means one (1) gramof fabric to ninety-nine (99) milliliters of treatment solution.)

In one of its embodiments the invention decreases that to a 10:1 ratio,with no loss of bicidal efficacy. Additionally, it is within the scopeof the invention to remove one component, namely polyvinyl alcohol, fromthe treatment, with minimal adverse effect on the bactericidalproperties of the fabric. This is beneficial, as the polyvinyl alcoholhas the tendency to alter the hand and stiffness of the treated fabric.In a further aspect of the invention, the use of a single bonding agent,namely glyxol, may be reduced by 25%, namely 25 grams, (from an earlier100% or 100 grams), with the treated fabric still retaining bicidalactivity that persists over at least 25 washes using either a cold washand cold dry cycle, or a hot wash and hot dry cycle.

Further, the inventive treatment has been found to kill nine separateand common hospital-acquired human pathogens namely S. aureus (MRSA), B.cereus (model for anthrax), M. smegmatis (model for TB),vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE), Pseudomonasaeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, S. agalacticae, S. pyogenes and S.epidermidis.

The method of the invention has been proven effective in the treatmentof bioactively-coated white coats made of a 65%:35% polyester-cottonblend fabric. The treatment is retained by the coats through at least 10washes in hot water with high heat drying. Cost of the antibacterialtreatment in accordance with the invention is 50% lower than costs citedin the literature, including those treatments disclosed in the threepublished United States patent applications incorporated by referenceabove, due to the optimization of the bonding agent(s) and bioactiveagent(s).

Antimicrobial textiles comprising cotton-polyester blends of 25-75%synthetic-cotton blend have been successful. In creating the successful75:25 antibacterial fabric, several methods may be employed inaccordance with the invention including altering the concentrations ofpolyvinyl alcohol and replacing the water component of the treatmentwith either ethanol or ethyl acetate. The invention also embracesheating the polyvinyl alcohol component prior to application to thefabric. Fabrics were also treated and tested without glyxol. As can beseen from FIG. 1 and Table 1, all treatments, except those lackingglyxol in the recipe, produced an effective binding of the biocide,namely the eugenol, to the fabric resulting in a 4-5 log reduction ingrowth, i.e. the fabrics were bactericidal against Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA strain), Bacillus cereus and Mycobacterium smegmatis.

TABLE 1 Effect of fabric treatments on antibacterial activity of fabricPercentage Reduction from Control (log unit change in parentheses) S.aureus (MRSA B. cereus (spore M. smegmatis (TB Treatment 1 strain)producer) model) 1 99.99% (4 log units) 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99% (5 logs)2 99.99% (4 log units) 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99% (5 logs) Heated polyvinylalcohol 99.99% (4 log units) 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99% (5 logs) Nopolyvinyl alcohol 99.99% (5 log units) 99.99% (6 logs) 99.99% (5 logs)10% ethanol 99.99% (4 log units) 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 10%ethyl acetate 99.99% (4 log units) 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99% (5 logs) Noglyxol   50% (<than 1 log unit)   31% (<than 1 log unit)   62% (<than 1log unit)

The effective concentration of the eugenol biocide was tested atconcentrations ranging from 1 gram of eugenol per liter of treatmentsolution up to 10 grams of eugenol per liter of treatment solution usingthe remaining bonding agent and a 50% : 50% cotton-polyester fabric. Ascan be seen from FIG. 2, in which the efficacy of the fabric was testedagainst S. aureus (MRSA) strain, all concentrations were able to reducethe normal growth of the bacterium (shown as the control or “no fabric”point) by at least 4 logs, i.e. the fabrics were bactericidal. Similardata was also obtained using B. cereus and M. smegmatis.

The bonding agent was tested at concentrations varying from 5% (10:0:5)to 100% (10:0:100 fabric) using the 25:75% cotton-polyester fabric and a10 grams per liter of solution of biocide. As can be seen from FIG. 3,in which the efficacy of this created fabric was tested against S.aureus (MRSA) strain, after 5 washes in cold water and drying, allconcentrations above 25% were able to reduce the normal growth of thebacterium (shown as control, i.e. no fabric present) by at least 4 logs,i.e. where bactericidal and the biological activity of the fabric couldbe retained through 5 washes. Concentrations of 5% and 10% wereinitially bactericidal but the bonding agent was of too low a level tohold the active bicidal to the fabric and so after 4 washes the activitybecame bacteriostatic at 10%, i.e. the fabric prevented the bacteriafrom multiplying.

Durability of 25:75% cotton-polyester textiles post laundering lead touse of the previously noted use of a solution with the 10:10:100 ratioof polyvinyl alcohol, glyxol and water by volume but without theapparently unnecessary bonding component (as previously explained).Although lower concentrations of the bonding agent may be utilized, inone preferred embodment the invention retaines the maximum concentrationbut decreases the biocide to a 10:1 dilution. As can be seen from Table2, the created fabrics were laundered 10 times in hot water and highheat dried without loss of antibacterial killing efficacy against S.aureus (MRSA), B. cereus or M. smegmatis.

TABLE 2 Evaluation of bacterial range of biocidal 25:75 cotton-polyesterfabric Number of (*= No growth at a 10⁻⁷ dilution of medium) washes MRSAB. cer. M. smeg. P. aer. VRE S. epi. S. agal. S. pneum. S. pyo. 0 99.99%99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% (unwashed) (5logs) (7 logs) (5 logs) (7 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs (5 logs) (6 logs) (5logs) 1 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%(4 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (6 logs) (5 logs) (6 logs)(5 logs) 2 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%99.99% (5 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (6 logs) (5 logs) (6logs) (4 logs) 3 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%99.99% (5 logs) (5 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (4logs) (4 logs) 4 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%99.99% (5 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (5logs) (4 logs) 5 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%99.99% (5 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (6logs) (4 logs) 6 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%99.99% (5 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (4logs) (5 logs) 7 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%*99.99% (5 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs)(5 logs) >7 logs 8 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%99.99% *99.99% (5 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (4logs) (4 logs) >7 logs 9 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%99.99% 99.99% 99.99% (5 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (4 logs) (4logs) (5 logs) (6 logs) (4 logs) 10  99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%99.99% 99.99% 99.99% *99.99% (5 logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (4 logs) (4logs) (4 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) >7 logs

In accordance with the invention the number of washed may be increasedto 25, without loss of activity against the normal growth (shown ascontrol (0) point on graph) of S. aureus (MRSA), as can be seen in FIG.4.

Visually the FIG. 4 data can be seen in the photograph presented as FIG.5. Control at 10⁻¹² is shown top left, bottom left is 20 washes andbottom right ×25 washes. All quantitative fabric data are obtained usinga 10⁻⁸ dilution of the broth, i.e. 4 logs lower than the control.

Evaluation of narrow spectrum antimicrobial efficiency (AATCC-100 forquantitative analysis using MRSA, B.cereus and M. smegmatis) using sixreplicates, achieved a reduction in microbial growth of ≧99.99%.

Unwashed samples of three of the treated effective fabrics as identifiedabove have each been tested on 6 separate occasions in duplicate againstS. aureus (MRSA), B. cereus and M. smegmatis. Variations in the assayare small, with all effective fabrics exhibiting a range of 4-7 loginhibition of bacterial growth after a 24 hour culture, i.e. achievingbactericidal ability. Data are shown in Table 3 below as percentage aswell as log reduction in bacterial growth.

TABLE 3 Replication of antibacterial Treatment fabric assay ReplicateNumber Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 S. aureus (MRSA) 1 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%99.99% 99.99% (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) 10%ethanol 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% (5 logs) (4 logs) (4logs) (5 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) 10% ethyl 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%99.99% 99.99% acetate (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (4logs) No polyvinyl 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% alcohol (4logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (4 logs) B. cereus 1 99.99%99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% (5 logs) (6 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs)(4 logs) (4 logs) 10% ethanol 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%(5 logs) (5 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) 10% ethyl 99.99%99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% acetate (4 logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (4logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) No polyvinyl 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%99.99% alcohol (6 logs) (6 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) M.smegmatis 1 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% (5 logs) (5 logs)(4 logs) (6 logs) (6 logs) (6 logs) 10% ethanol 99.99% 99.99% 99.99%99.99% 99.99% 99.99% (4 logs) (6 logs) (6 logs) (5 logs) (5 logs) (6logs) 10% ethyl 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% acetate (5logs) (4 logs) (4 logs) (6 logs) (5 logs) (6 logs) No polyvinyl 99.99%99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% 99.99% alcohol (5 logs) (6 logs) (5 logs) (5logs) (7 logs) (7 logs)

Evaluation of the spectrum of antimicrobial efficiency (AATCC-100 forquantitative analysis using MRSA, B.cereus, M. smegmatis, Pseudomonasaeruginosa, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE),Streptococcus epidermidis, S. agalacticae, S. pneumoniae, S. pyogenesand Clostridium difficile) showed that all nine bacterial speciesinvestigated displayed a 4-7 log reduction in growth after 24 hours ofexposure to the biocide-treated fabric, as per the data presented inTable 4.

TABLE 4 Effect of fabric treatments on antibacterial activity of fabricPercentage Reduction from Control (log unit change in parentheses) B.cereus (spore M. smegmatis (TB Treatment Number S. aureus (MRSA strain)producer) model) 1 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (4 log units) 99.99% (5 logs)2 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (5 log units) 99.99% (5 logs) 3 99.99% (5 logunits) 99.99% (5 log units) 99.99% (5 logs) No polyvinyl alcohol 99.99%(4 log units) 99.99% (5 log units) 99.99% (5 logs) 10% ethanol 99.99% (4log units) 99.99% (5 log units) 99.99% (5 logs) 10% ethanol 99.99% (4log units) 99.99% (5 log units) 99.99% (5 logs) No glyxol   50% (lessthan 1 log unit) NT NT

Referring to FIG. 6, S. agalacticae quantitative data on blood agar with25% cotton fabric were washed up to 10 times on high heat and high heatdrying. Active colonies are apparent as shown in FIG. 6 with clearregions around them and appear almost as “holes”. In FIG. 6 the top leftis the control at 10⁻¹², the right is washed ×10, the bottom left isfabric washed ×5 and the bottom right is unwashed. All quantitativefabric data were obtained using a 10⁻⁸ dilution of the broth i.e. 4 logslower than the control.

The invention further embraces treatment and use of 50% cotton-50%polyester fabrics. The scope of the invention includes varying twobonding components of the mixture and, as can be seen similarly to the25% cotton 75% polyester fabric, the polyvinyl alcohol component is notalways necessary for effective binding of the eugenol biocide.

Visually, these appear as shown in FIG. 7 with S. aureus (MRSA) controlplates on the upper left and fabric treatments 1-4 respectively.

Durability data has been obtained using treatment 1 and on 50:50 fabriccreated with treatment 1 and without component 1. As can be seen inTables 5 and 6, these fabrics can be laundered in cold water and lowtemperature air dried up to 6 times and up to 10 times in hot water withhigh heat drying, respectively, without loss of activity against S.aureus (MRSA), B, cereus and M. smegmatis.

TABLE 5 Launderability of treatment 1 50:50 fabric Percentage Reductionfrom Control (log unit change in parentheses) Number of S. aureus (MRSAB. cereus (spore M. smegmatis washes strain) producer) (TB model) 0(unwashed) 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (5 logs.) 99.99% (5 logs) 1 99.99% (4logs) 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99% (6 logs) 2 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (4 logs)99.99% (5 logs) 3 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 499.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 5 Air (dry) 99.99% (5logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (5 logs) 5 Low (dry) 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99%(5 logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 6 Air (dry) 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (4 logs)99.99% (5 logs) 6 Low (dry) 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99% (4logs)

TABLE 6 Launderability of 50:50 fabric created without component 1Percentage Reduction from Control (log unit change in parentheses)Number of S. aureus (MRSA B. cereus (spore M. smegmatis washes strain)producer) (TB model) 0 (unwashed) 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99%(5 logs) 1 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (3 logs) 2 99.99% (5logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 3 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (4 logs)99.99% (5 logs) 4 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (5 logs) 599.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (5 logs) 6 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99%(4 logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 7 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (5logs) 8 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 9 99.99% (4logs) 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99% (4 logs) 10  99.99% (4 logs) 99.99% (4logs) 99.99% (4 logs)

Lab coats containing 65% polyester were treated. Several tests have beenperformed as to the antibacterial stability of the coats. The first wasto examine whether abrasion affected the durability of the biocidebinding to the fabric. Abrasion was performed after the coat materialwas treated using the now standard method i.e. with only one bondingagent and using the standard ASTM-D966 abrasion treatment with 2,500,5,000, 7,500 or 10,000 cycles. Additional fabric was also treated andnot abraded. Thereafter all material samples were washed up to 10 timesusing a warm wash and medium heat dry, according to manufacturer'sinstructions. The ability of the coats to remain antibacterial has beenvalidated in full using the S. aureus MRSA strain, to date and in part(namely with a single wash) with B. cereus and M. smegmatis. Theantimicrobial property producing treatment, in the absence of abrasion,is stable to up to 10 washes, but higher numbers of abrasion cycles(>5,000 cycles) are deleterious to the fabric, changing it frombactericidal to bacteriostatic (4 logs to 3 logs in terms of growth ofthe bacterium). The data from this are shown in Table 7.

TABLE 7 Effect of ASTM-D966 Abrasion Treatment on biocidal Abraded andcapacity of 65:35 polyester-cotton fabric Percentage non-abradedReduction from Control (log unit change in parentheses) fabrics S.aureus B. cereus M. smegmatis Abraded (MRSA strain) (spore producer) (TBmodel) Washed × 1 2,500 cycles 99.99% (4 logs) 5,000 cycles 99.99% (5logs) 7,500 cycles 99.99% (4 logs) 10,000 cycles  99.99% (4 logs) Washed× 5 2,500 cycles 99.99% (4 logs) 5,000 cycles  99.0% (3 logs) 7,500cycles  99.0% (3 logs) 10,000 cycles   99.0% (3 logs) Washed × 10 2,500cycles 99.99% (4 logs) 5,000 cycles 99.99% (4 logs) 7,500 cycles 99.99%(4 logs) 10,000 cycles   99.0% (3 logs) Non-abraded Washed × 1 99.99% (5logs) 99.99% (5 logs) 99.99% (5 logs) Washed × 5 99.99% (4 logs)  Washed× 10 99.99% (4 logs)

FIG. 8 shows qualitative data on Clostridium sporogenes. This bacteriumis a direct analog for botulism, shows 80% spore homology with C.difficile and about 60% genetic morphology. The plate shows ×15, ×20 and×25 washes with rings of no growth around the fabric.

FIG. 9 shows growth media after 24 hour incubation. On the left is thecontrol, which shows cloudiness due to the presence of bacteria in themedium. On the right is the fabric washed 25 times. You can see thefabric at the bottom of the test tube. Note the clarity of the mediumcompared with the control.

FIG. 10 shows c sporogenes quantitative data. Control at 10⁻¹² is shownleft and at right the −15 wash at 10⁻⁸. Below are ×20 washes and ×25washes also at 10⁻⁸ dilution. All quantitative fabric data are obtainedusing a 10⁻⁸ dilution of the broth i.e. 4 logs lower than the control.

The following is claimed: 1) A process for producing antibacterialfabric that retains its antibacterial properties over twenty-fivelaunderings, comprising the steps of: a) immersing the fabric in asolution of glyxol, eugenol and water; b) squeezing the solution out ofthe fabric c) curing the wetted fabric under heat; and d) drying thecured fabric. 2) A fabric made according to claim 1 wherein the solutioncomprises ethanol. 3) A fabric made according to claim 1 wherein thesolution comprises ethyl acetate. 4) A fabric made according to of claim1 comprising cotton and polyester. 5) A fabric made according to claim 1comprising a blend of cotton and polyester. 6) A fabric made accordingto claim 5 wherein the blend is 75% polyester. 7) A fabric madeaccording to claim 5 wherein the blend is 50% polyester. 8) A fabricmade according to claim 1 wherein the solution comprises about 10 gramsof glyxol per liter of solution, and about 1 gram of eugenol per literof solution. 9) A fabric made according to claim 2 wherein the ethanolis present in an amount of about 10 percent of the water by volume. 10)A fabric made according to claim 3 wherein the ethyl acetate is presentin an amount of about 10 percent of the water by volume. 11) A processfor producing a MRSA-resistant fabric that retains 4-7 log reduction inMRSA growth thereon after up to twenty-five launderings, comprising thesteps of: a) immersing the fabric in a solution of glyxol, eugenol andwater; b) squeezing the solution out of the fabric c) curing the wettedfabric under heat; and d) drying the cured fabric.